The Sound of Silence
by Savara07
Summary: Maura lives in a world full of sound but hears nothing. A tragic riding accident with her beloved horse brings unexpected surprises..AU I don't know where this is going, could end up being a mary sue, please no flames.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to my new story "The Sound of Silence". This is my first fan fiction in quite a while, I decided to start with a clean slate so I deleted my old stories and will start fresh with this one. I don't quite know where this story is going to go, so if it turns into a Mary Sue, I will apologize ahead of time.

Happy Reading! Please review when your reading is completed, no flames please, I don't have a fire extinguisher next to my laptop! J

Chapter One- Introductions..

Maura is a young woman with a seemingly average life. She is a twenty year old sophomore at the University of Portland where she studies ancient history. The blue eyed woman with soft, sable colored hair made friends easily at University, outgoing, talkative, and enthusiastic; Maura had a social circle of close friends. One thing that Maura loved more then anything, was riding her bay Dutch warmblood show jumper, Fighter's Folly, or just Folly for short. Maura trained with Folly with staying determination and was rewarded with blue ribbons at most of the shows she went to, up and down the west coast.

Maura lives a pretty average life….except for one thing, the soundtrack of her life is silent, Maura was born deaf. She has never heard the sound of her parent's voices, the song of a bird, or even the soft, blowing nicker of Folly's greeting. Her world is like a silent movie, moving pictures and action without words or songs or sounds to accompany it. Maura communicates with her friends and family using American Sign Language. She relies on an interpreter and her skill of lip reading to understand what is being said in her classes at the University. Even her riding instructor, Jilly, developed easily seen hand signals to aid Maura in understanding what she is saying while riding a course or during training practices.

There was only one thing that Maura could communicate with, without resorting to a third party, Folly. She could gaze into the geldings liquid brown eyes and now exactly what he had to say, how he was feeling, and what he wanted to do. Even while on his back, there was the unspoken communication of body language between horse and rider. Their bond was inseparable, their souls were of one entity.

At summer's end, there is an end of the year show called Derby. It was a sort of celebration to close the showing season, but its classes were still full and the jump courses were as challenging as ever. As Maura warmed Folly up over 4' fences, she felt that something wasn't quite right. It wasn't a sign given off by Folly, rather a feeling that Maura felt in her heart. It had rained pretty heavily the night before and the footing on the course was muddy and slick. Maura had screwed studs into Folly's shoes to give him traction on the slick surface and in the warm up ring, they seemed to be working alright.

Jilly walked up to her and signed, "They are calling your name and number, do you remember your course?"

Maura didn't respond with her hands, rather, she gave a curt nod of her head; all her concentration was on the task ahead of her, fifteen 4' high fences with tight turns and roll backs.

Maura and Folly trotted into the rain sodden arena and began their canter circle. Fence number one felt good, Folly found a deep spot to the fence and had easily cleared the top rail. There was a tight right turn to fence number two and then a rollback to fence number 3. Six fences into the course, and Maura started to relax, perhaps her bad feeling was just a feeling after all.

All of a sudden, while approaching fence number 8, a wide oxer, Maura realized that Folly's strides were off. She asked him to slow to get their rhythm back, but to no avail, Folly was focused on the fence! Too late Folly realized that he was at a bad distance to make the jump but desperately tried to clear the rails as he was trained to do. His hind hooves slipped on the slick mud and he crashed head first into the top rails of the fence. Maura felt her feet coming loose from the stirrups and desperately tried to control her flight through the air. She hit the ground hard, her shoulder taking most of the impact, but Folly couldn't avoid her in his fall from flight and he clipped her head with his hind end as he went down.

Maura's world went dark.

To be continued…Please review, no flames!

Glossary

Studs- Metal cleats that screw into the horse's shoe, like cleats on soccer boots.

Fence- a jump made of rails and standards that a horses tries to clear without knocking rails down.

Oxer- A jump made of two or three fences that are close together to form one fence that a horse jumps singularly.


	2. Feeling out the new

Chapter 2- Feeling out the new

Here is the second chapter of "The Sound of Silence". I hope you like it, and as always please review if you like it. Thank You!

The veil of darkness lifted slowly, fading out like layers of a curtain being drawn away. When the light finally succeeded in shining through the dark, Maura found herself laying face first spread eagle on a forest floor, far from where she was first knocked unconscious. Still disoriented she looked around at her surroundings, searching for her best friend, there was not a single sign of Folly's presence around her; for the first time in her life, Maura felt alone in her silent world. Large, old growth trees towered above her, reaching for the sky. They were covered with a thick layer of lichen and seemed to be at peace in their silent, giant lives. The forest floor was covered by decomposing leaves and pine needles; it gave off a pleasant, earthy scent that had a peaceful effect on Maura.

She was still wearing her riding gear, tall black leather field boots, cream colored breeches, a white button up shirt with a high neck, and a chocolate brown hunt coat. When Maura and Folly had crashed on the jump course, the ground had been wet and muddy, but her clothes now only held traces of the decomposing leaves around her.

When Maura's head finally cleared and she was able to stand, she got a better view of her surroundings. To the west was a small creek that bubbled its way through the forest over large, irregular stones. To the north, the trees seemed to grow more sparsely than in her current surroundings; they seemed to be younger in age and smaller in size. To the east, the sun was creeping her rays over the horizon, the sky it had already touched on fire with its light. And to the south, the trees seemed to blend into one another, a canvas of mottled shades of green and brown. Maura was all alone.

Thinking quickly, Maura gathered her emotions and tried to push the thought of what might have happened to Folly out of her head, to survive, she must only think about herself. Since she did not know where on earth she was, Maura took inventory of the things she needed to survive. Thankfully, coming from the Pacific Northwest, she had experience hiking and camping in the woods, she knew the dangers and how to survive. Maura decided that as long as she hiked along the creek, she would be in no endangerment of becoming dehydrated; the water looked clear and clean. The air was pleasantly warm at the moment, but the evenings could get chilly once the sun went down. Maura knew how to start a fire without the use of matches or a steel and flint, and there were plenty of dead branches around, so warmth wouldn't be a problem. The only adversity that Maura faced was food; she didn't recognize the plants that surrounded her so did not dare to eat them, lest she get poisoned.

Maura followed the creek for a couple of hours, the terrain was easily walked, and the creek tumbled its way down a gentle slope through the trees. Though she was famished, she only took drinks from the clear water, hoping that would calm her grumbling stomach. Around noon, Maura saw hoof prints that trailed its way to the creek and made its way back to its original path. She looked closer at the prints that were pressed into the soft creek bank; the hoof prints were horseshoes with stud imprints! Maura got excited knowing that the prints could lead her to Folly! She followed the prints at a quick pace, slowing only to make sure that she was still following them. Maura followed them up steep, barren of the trees she had become so familiar with. At the crest of the hill she could see the outline of a horse and rider! As she drew closer, she could make out Folly's markings and recognized the tack that the horse still wore. The rider astride his back, however, was not familiar to Maura. He had long blond hair, a chiseled pale complexion, blue eyes, and pointy ears! His dress was most unfamiliar to anything that Maura knew, he was dressed in organic colored leggings, boots, and a tunic; and seemed to be carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. The man spoke, but Maura could not read what he was saying, he seemed to be speaking in a different language. She brought her right hand up to her ear and gestured that she could not hear. The man nodded and swung his leg over Folly's back to dismount, he then walked over to her and gestured her to remain calm. Gently he placed his hands over her ears and moved his lips slightly as though he were whispering.

Maura's world exploded in sound.


	3. The unexpected

For the first time in her life, Maura could hear the birds singing in the trees, their voices were like nature's angels. She heard a soft blowing like brr-rrr-rrr-rrr, Maura turned her head and looked at Folly, he had his head turned toward her and was nickering; he knew that something was different with Maura. Because she had never been able to hear, sound was amplified to Maura's ears, it seemed as all living things had something to say.

Finally she looked at the strange, tall man who had helped her ears come alive. She tried to say the words that she had always read on people's lips," Taaannnkk yoo." Maura had taken speech therapy throughout her life, but without the ability to hear the sounds of words, speaking them was a difficult task.

"You are welcome, young one. Tell me where are you from?" asked Legolas, speaking slowly realizing she had to read his lips along with listening to the words to understand him.

"Orrrgon, Unietted states," replied Maura, speaking a little better now that she is putting together the familiar lip read words with the sounds she had been taught.

"I do not know where in Middle Earth that is," said Legolas, "Oregon, United States, sounds like a wonderful place. Middle Earth has not been united for ages."

_Middle Earth, that sounds familiar. _Maura thought back to the wonderful books she had read and reread throughout her life. Legolas had been her favorite character, and yet this Legolas was standing in front of her, in flesh and blood. He looked different than how Tolkien had described Legolas in the trilogy, different and yet the same. _ I wonder if this is just a complex hallucination I'm having because Folly and I took such a hard fall. I'm probably knocked out on a hospital table right now_

"I going take Folly, go home," said Maura, struggling with the English format of speech (ASL has a different conjugation format then spoken English). Maura gathered Folly's reins and swung up on his broad, familiar back. She fitted her boots into the irons and prepared to take off.

"Where will you go?" asked Legolas, "you are unfamiliar with this land, there are dangers that you know nothing of."

"I not knoow, where," replied Maura, "but keep riding, I go hoom."

"I do not think that is a very good idea," said Legolas, "why don't we ride together and go back to my party's encampment, you will be safe surrounded by elves."

Maura wasn't too sure about this proposed idea, she just wanted to get back home and back to the real world. This was a very complex dream! After thinking it over for a moment, she nodded her head in silent agreement. Legolas swung up onto Folly's back, sitting closely behind Maura and gently took the reins from her hands. He touched Folly behind the girth with his heel and they took off at a canter down the other side of the hill where Maura came from.

The three of them traveled quickly, Folly seemed oblivious to the doubled weight on his back and moved as freely as ever. They passed through thickly forested woods that became a blur as they cantered through them. It wasn't until long when the trees appeared older and were covered thickly with large golden leaves. Legolas signaled Folly to slow down to a walk.

"We are getting close to my party," he said, "its best that we approach them at a walk, lest they think us a threat."

Maura nodded, understanding that a galloping horse would appear to be more urgent and threatening then a horse approaching at a smaller pace.

A short amount of time passed before Legolas pulled Folly to a stop and signaled Maura to dismount. Legolas followed suit, flipping Folly's reins over his head and holding the length in his left hand. He looked into the thick forest, squinting as though he could see something in the darkness that Maura could not, "Mae Govannen, Haldir o' Lorien," Legolas called into the trees. Maura could not see whom Legolas was calling to.

Before long, a strong looking elf with hair similar to Legolas's stepped silently out of the woods. He wore a silver colored leggings and a similar colored tunic fastened with a thick braided cord. The elf had a regal look to him; he wore a silver circlet that crossed his brow.

Maura didn't know quite what to do so she bobbed an off balance curtsy and greeted him as Legolas had, "Mae Govannen."

The elf raised an eyebrow at Maura's greeting. "Mae Govannen, lost child." He turned to Legolas, "I hear that you are traveling to Rivendell for a council, do the rumours hold true."

Legolas replied, speaking thoughtfully," The ring of power has been found"

Haldir started pacing back and for, walking ten feet then turning on his heal and heading back, obviously distraught at the news.

_My dream is getting stranger by the minute_ thought Maura_If I am correct, I am in Middle Earth, before Frodo destroyed the ring of power, even before it was decided to be destroyed._

Maura's stomach rumbled, Haldir stopped pacing abruptly and looked at Maura, "I apologize for my rudeness, Let us find you a place to rest and something to calm your hunger." He gestured for them to follow. Haldir led them on an unseen path that wove deeply into the trees and stopped at the largest tree that Maura had ever seen.

The tree's bark was deep silver and the trunk was as thick as a building. Stairs wound their way up its trunk in an elegant spiral and the entire tree had an incandescent aura. Haldir started climbing the elegant stairs,

Maura untacked Folly and allowed him to roam free and graze; she knew that he would not go far without her. Maura then followed behind him and Legolas brought up the rear. It seemed they must have climbed at least a dozen stories before they reached a vast platform that held small, silver colored buildings on its surface; like an elegant tree house. There were a number of platforms, each connected by an arched walk way.

It was the most fantastic sight that Maura had ever seen! There were multitudes of elves walking among the buildings and over the arched walk ways. Maura let out a deep breath of awe…..and every elf stopped in their tracks and stared at the new party. Maura didn't think that she had even made a noise!

"Why are they staring?" she whispered to Legolas furiously.

"Well, Melanin, elves have very sensitive hearing, just as you do right now. However we were blessed by our makers and you are only sensitive because it is new to you," replied Legolas. "Plus you look different then us in your interesting boots and coat." He chuckled.

Maura stared down at her riding boots, the once shiny tops were dirty, covered with Middle Earth dust. She didn't think that she was dress strangely, but then again, horse people were their own breed.

After a moment of staring, the elves went back to their normal pattern of daily life. Maura let out a silent breath of relief: Elves can be intimidating! Even for a dream, this was getting slightly weird.

Haldir led Legolas and Maura to the largest open air building on the platform; she could see a glow being emitted from within. Maura heard a strange voice, not through her newly corrected ears, but instead a voice coming from within her mind. "Welcome lost child, no hearing is need to hear my voice, however I see that Legolas has banished the curse set upon you by Sauron. Welcome back to Middle Earth," spoke the voice.

_Back to Middle Earth?_


	4. Roots unearthed

I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews and encouragement. I do realize that a deaf person would have a very difficult time understanding spoken English and reciprocating verbally, however because of limited time and the exhaustion of explanation, I decided to speed up the process.  I hope no one is offended. I also apologize if this chapter is complete crap, I am writing this chapter whilst at work, and I can't concentrate here as well as I could at home.

With that said, Thank you for reading my ff and please leave some pleasant reviews after completion.

I do not own any LOTR characters outside of Maura and Fighter's Folly, I would like to own Legolas, though I think my husband would object.

**Chapter Four- Roots Unearthed**

Maura blinked in surprised confusion. _Back to Middle Earth? Is this lady in my head nutters?? This is my first time visiting I believe. I don't remember visiting Middle Earth the last time I fell off Folly and suffered a concussion._

The voice in her head continued "No, lost child, Maura, I am not nutters."

_Oh damn.._

"The last time that you were in Middle Earth, was not simply a visit. This is the realm in which you were born to; you became estranged after unknown events which sent to you to the place called Oregon. I sent your mount to you in hopes that he would help guide you home to us."

"Wait a minute," stated Maura loudly, "who the bloody hell is telling me this, I want to see her face!" (If you couldn't tell, Maura liked to use a lot of British slang)

"As you wish."

A tall blond woman stepped from behind a transparent curtain that Maura had not noticed before. She was clearly an elf as her grace, stature and not to mention pointy ears were a dead give away. She had long wavy blond hair that fell nearly to her waist, and she wore a long layered dress that at first glance appeared to be white but when the she-elf moved, the fabric glimmered a rainbow of colors.

"I am Galadriel of Lorien," said the she-elf, "It has been long since I have looked upon your face, Maura of Oregon. You bring with you a glimmer of hope that has not been seen for an age."

Maura was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Galadriel, not to mention her stunning beauty which was both comforting and mysterious. She seemed to be familiar to Maura, but then again, it was possible that Maura had seen Peter Jackson's movie one too many times. "Will you tell me of my past?" asked Maura, looking directly into Galadriel's gaze.

Galadriel nodded slowly. "You were found in our forest by a hunting party led by Haldir," she nodded toward the elf. " Your parentage is unknown to us and though you acted like an elf, no elf mother would abandon her child such as you were found and you did not have the characteristic shaped ears or our sense of hearing. Your race was unknown to us, perhaps you were the last of a forgotten race, and nonetheless, you became one of us. You were raised by the elves of Lorien, taught to hunt, fight, shoot a bow, and move like one of us. You grew up very slowly like elven children, and also like us, you seemed to stop aging once you reached maturity.

You lived with us for 1,000 years until Sauron forged the great ring and Middle Earth became a battle ground. You were traveling to visit Rivendell when you were captured by the dark lord's army. Word had reached him of you and he believed you to be a mighty weapon that would be employed by the race of elves in order to destroy him. For some unknown reason, he was unable to kill you so he banished you to another realm and took away your sense of hearing in order to make you an outsider.

Your tale now becomes misty and unknown to me, other than your banished soul was born to human parents and that you grew up not being able to hear the sounds of the world. I could not see you clearly, even with all my talent. That is why I sent your horse to bring you home. You are needed in Middle Earth, war is upon us again.

Maura had a difficult time taking all this information in. She was shocked to learn that she wasn't human, in fact, even the elves had no clue what race she was. Her parents really were her parents, but they were her second set of parents, her first had abandoned her and she was raised by the elves until Sauron tried and failed to kill her and then banished her to Oregon. Even her relationship with Folly was changed, apparently Maura hadn't picked him but some how he had picked her with help from Galadriel. Maura felt light headed with the sudden increase of knowledge of her life and she felt as though she would collapse. She swayed on the spot and Haldir rushed to catcher.

"I think that is enough information for today my lady," he addressed Galadriel, bowing his head slightly, "I believe our guest is overwhelmed and must take leave of you in order to rest and recover from her travels and findings."

Galadriel smiled and nodded, "Yes, let her sleep under the protect trees of Lothlorien, please ask Legolas to look over her."

Maura was shown to a soft sofa placed under the golden leaves of the mallorn, thick coverlets were draped upon it for her, and although she could not see him, she felt Legolas's comforting presence. It took but a blink of an eye to fall into a deep sleep…

Sorry its shortWork calls


	5. Chapter 5The Rope Slowly Unravels

I'm sorry that I have not written for more than 9 months now, a lot of things are occurring in my life and I have not been able to keep up with my story

I'm sorry that I have not written for more than 9 months now, a lot of things are occurring in my life and I have not been able to keep up with my story. My husband and I are expecting a son in late January of 2009, we are ecstatic to bring a new joy into our lives.

Onward with the story:

**Chapter Five- The Rope Slowly Unravels**

Maura woke slowly from a deep sleep, as her thickly lashed eyes blinked open to the surroundings around her, she realized that she was not in her own bed at home, but in Lothlorien.

_That is strange, I am in a made up place, that has become reality. I am not in a dream._

She sat up straight from her sofa, "I need to see a Psychologist."

A soft nicker caused her to turn her head to the left, Folly was staring straight at her, bobbing his head up and down, his mane waving in the soft breeze.

"I guess some exploring would do us both some good," Maura responded to his unspoken question.

She pulled herself onto his slick back, feeling the warmth and joy that spread through her body every time she climbed onto a horse. Even without the use of a saddle and bridle, Maura easily communicated where she wanted to go with small shifts of her weight and pressure from her calves.

Maura and Folly followed a worn path that wound its way through the enormous trees that made up the land of Lothlorien. She didn't know where she was going, but instead trusted Folly not to bring her to any harm. The pair walked slowly for some time, Maura enjoying the soft breeze on her face and the sounds that swirled around her, nature's orchestra played a symphony that was beautiful to her ears. Birds sang their song and tended to the chirps of their young. The air seemed to carry a tune as it sang its way through the leaves, all of these sounds were new to Maura, but all of them sounded familiar.

After a while, Maura and Folly came to small pond, its surface undisturbed and as smooth as glass. Maura swung a leg over Folly's broad back and dismounted with a soft thump! She knelt over the water, looking down at her reflection. The image was the same, but somehow changed.

Slowly, her reflection rippled away and a scene played out before her on the water's surface. She saw nine walkers on a hard journey, traveling over rough terrain and fight more than just physical villains, but each walker seemingly fighting an internal battle as well.

Folly blew gently on the water's surface and the image faded away.

Her life in the real world gave her knowledge of what she had seen, the Fellowship of the Ring and their journey that had yet to have taken place.

_I wonder if what I saw was real or if it was simply created from my memories_

"You have the gift of foresight," came Galadriel's voice as she stepped from the path, "you have seen what will come to be from the finding of the great ring."

Maura was slightly startled from the sudden appearance of Galadriel, usually Folly alerts her of such things. She recovered quickly from her shock, "I saw the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor," Maura told Galadriel.

"Indeed you did," Galadriel replied, "I believe because this vision was granted to you, you must travel with Legolas to the council at Rivendell, as you are of great importance to the fate of the one ring."

Maura nodded slowly, "I will do as you request, but have one request of my own if I am to do this. If I follow through, with all that is asked of me, I ask that someone help me unwind my history in Middle Earth. I would like to retread the path that I walked before I was sent to my life in Oregon, my life in Middle Earth as a child, and maybe, where I came from."

"What you ask does not come with an easy answer," replied Galadriel, "but all efforts shall be made to fulfill your request."

Satisfied with Galadriel's answer, Maura remounted Folly, "Shall we go then?"

Sorry if this was really boring, I'm at work and could only be so creative while in a suppressive environment. As usual. Please no flames.


	6. Preparations

I apologize for not writing for such a long period of time. Life is so busy for my husband and I right now. Our son is now just over a year old and is becoming more independent every day; hopefully this will lead to more time to write!

**Preparations**

Over the next several days, Legolas helped Maura prepare for the journey to Rivendell. Lembas was prepared stored in leaf wrappings. A seamstress took Maura's measurements and wove her beautiful tunics, leggings, and a cape to clothe her during the journey. Maura insisted on wearing her own riding boots as they were well broken in and were as comfortable as boots come. Both Legolas and Haldir insisted that Maura carry a weapon, against Maura's resistance, so a small dagger and sword was ordered from the smithy. When the weapons were handed to her, the blades were etched deeply with elegant elven script. Legolas told her that the script read "One who walks between worlds". Maura thought this was appropriate; she didn't know where she belonged or who she belonged to.

The preparations were almost final, even Folly was fitted with new shoes. The blacksmith thought that metal shoes on a horse was ingenious and copied the design of the old shoes to create the new ones. Folly had become quite an attraction in Lothlorien, horses were never used for pleasure before, only for necessity. Small groups of elves gathered early in the morning when Maura hacked Folly to keep him in shape. At first there were smirks from the elves; who would use a horse simply for their own selfish pleasure? But as a few days passed, those smirks were transformed into smiles of appreciation. The elves could see the unbreakable bond between Maura and Folly as they galloped through the trees, changing leads as they bent around corners, and soaring over downed trees and brush. While Maura was riding, it was as though she were deaf again. No sounds could be heard, the only things that existed were Folly's warm, strong body, the movement of his strides, and the path that lay at his hooves. It was heaven on earth.

During her stay, Legolas attempted to help Maura learn the Elvish tongue. However, she found the language difficult; her time living in silence had erased any prior knowledge of the language if any had remained. She couldn't force her tongue to create the beautiful words and the sentence structure was completely foreign, her hands couldn't help her. Although she could not speak or understand the language, Maura enjoyed listening to the elves tell stories at Twilight, when the sun was just a sliver of light on the horizon. The stories were music to her ears, tones and syllables became the notes and rhythm of songs. After living in silence for twenty years, it was hard to believe that there were so many sounds in life that Maura had missed out on.

Finally, all the bags were packed and the preparations were made. A traveling group of Legolas, Maura (and Folly of course) and a male elf warrior named Daeron. Daeron was young in elvish terms, only 1,003 years old, but was fierce with a sword and had deadly aim with a long bow and arrows.

On the eve of their departure, Galadriel held a feast in their honor of their journey's purpose. The food was aromatic and delicious, the mead and wine lay sweet upon the tongues of its drinker. The speeches were heartfelt and joyous, full of laughter and smiles.

Maura and the elves of Lothlorien were so enveloped in the occasion that none felt a shadow fall over them, but Folly did. His panicked whinny pierced the music and laughter and its high pitch brought terror to the hearts of all that heard. Panicked whispers erupted as the elves scanned the darkness beyond the light of the party. Galadriel quieted the crowd with a slash of her hand through the air.

"Legolas, you must take your party and depart now! I fear darkness has come and will continue to follow the quest at hand! Leave now and ride toward Rivendell, only there will you be safe for a while. A deadly force released by the finding of the one ring has is sweeping through Middle Earth, soon none will be safe. Folly did not scream in fear, but in warning. We must take heed!"

Legolas stood at once, sweeping his cloak to cover his shoulders in one swift movement. He did not speak but nodded with his head to Daeron and Maura who understood at once. Folly and two chestnut geldings were quickly saddled and the packed bags tied to saddles. Maura slipped her feet into her boots and raised the hood of her traveling cloak over her bound hair. To Rivendell!


	7. Chapter 7

**Deep Within**

The three riders took off into the darkness at a brisk trot, though Maura couldn't see the path ahead, she trusted Folly to tread carefully and knew that Legolas and Daeron wouldn't lead them astray. It wasn't completely black, where the trees thinned; Maura could make out Legolas's and Daeron's silhouettes not too far ahead of her and Folly. The one-two beat of Folly's hooves on the hard ground was comforting, the motion lulling Maura into a day dream.

"_Mom!" signed the little dark hair girl frantically to the woman beside her; she pointed to the pony ride on the path ahead of them. Five ponies wearing kid sized saddles were walking sedately around in a sawdust covered circle as children of all ages dug their heels into their furry sides, asking them to go faster. The little girl's hands fluttered through the air, she couldn't sign fast enough to match her excitement," I want to go ride a horse!" Her mother smiled down at her and signed back," Which horse do you want to ride, Maura?" The little girl came to a halt so she could think, her pigtailed headed tilted to the side while she contemplated and studied the animals in front of her. There was a little brown horse with a long black mane and tail, its saddle was decorated with pink leather embellishes. Maura simply pointed, her eyes glazed over with the look of wanting. Her mother smiled at her and started walking toward the little bay pony. Maura's heart skipped a beat! There was nothing more beautiful than that pony and she was going to get to ride it! She had to wait in line with the other kids while she waited her turn to ride. Maura watched the children's mouths move as they talked to their parents, but heard nothing. She was different and she knew it. By the time it was her turn to ride the pony, she was determined to do ride just as well as the other children, it didn't matter that her ears didn't work and that she didn't communicate in the same way. She could do everything that a hearing person could do but hear; Maura was going to prove it. Her mother lifted her into the pink frosted saddle and the moment that Maura picked up the reins and held them tightly in her hands, she knew that she would be the best rider ever. The pony didn't care that she couldn't hear or talk, he also communicated by touch and movement, this, Maura could do! She tapped his rounded sides gently with her heels, the pony knew this meant to walk on, no words or sounds needed! Maura was in heaven…_

" Mellon?Maura?" Legolas had slowed his mount to trot beside Folly on the narrow path. Maura looked at him sheepishly in the dark, embarrassed that she had been caught not paying attention to the task at hand.

"Sorry Legolas, I was just thinking back to the first time I rode a horse. To the first time I found out that I could do communicate without horses without having to use my ears or voice."

"I do not understand what it is like not to hear the sounds of this earth, but I do understand what it is to ride a horse for the first time," Legolas replied softly," Horsemanship comes easily to elves, the bond between beast and animal strong from the very first moment. When I am on a horse, I can feel their breath, their strong legs, their heart; I need not my ears or voice."

"This is exactly how I feel when I am riding," replied Maura strongly, "I can do anything that that a person with working ears can do except hear, it's just that horses are easier to work with than people!" she stopped for a second and then chuckled. 'Though, I guess now I CAN hear!"

"You have a strong heart, I would never have doubted your strength and determination, in this world or yours, it shows in your character, it shows who you are," said Legolas softly. He squeezed his mount into a faster trot and took the lead again, leaving Maura with her thoughts.

They rode until the sun crept over the horizon, touching the sky with a bright sliver of orange kissed with a faint blush. They had cleared the trees of Lothlorien and were now traveling over barren land, only grass and rocks for all to see. Legolas pulled his mount to a halt and gracefully swung his leg over the horses' back and dismounted. Daeron and Maura followed suit, dropping until their feet touched the ground for the first time in many hours. Maura groaned at the aching pain on the insides of her thighs. No matter how often a person rode a horse, they will still be sore after sitting on one for hours!

"We will sleep here today; we are less likely to get attacked in broad daylight. I will take the first watch and we will rotate every 3 hours." Legolas started to untack his horse, dropping bags and leather to the grassy earth.

Maura unfastened Folly's girth and slid the saddle and pad off his back. Sweat darkened his bay coat and left it glistening wet in the sun. She unbuckled the throat latch and chin strap, sliding the leather headstall down his face, rubbing away the marks with her hand as she worked. "You are my sweet boy Folly, you did good," Maura murmured in his ear as she rubbed his forehead, his majestic head bowed toward hers with appreciation. Maura was tired, but Folly came first. She gave him small squirts of water from her skin canteen and a carrot from her bag. While he grazed on the tender grass shoots, Maura used a rough cloth to help work the sweat marks out of his glistening coat. Only when Folly was comfortable did Maura collapse to the ground and shove a bag under her head for a pillow. She was out in 5 seconds flat.

Legolas had watched Maura care for Folly before she took care of herself; he realized how compassionate of a person she was. Not only for her horse, but for all others around her as well. He had watched her interact with the elvish children in Lothlorien, introducing them to Folly and giving short pony rides to the smallest. He had seen her listen to Daeron talk about his betrothed and the life they hoped to live after his journey to Rivendell was complete. She was evidence that there was good in this world despite the evil that Sauron had placed upon Middle Earth. Love still existed; that was worth fighting for.


End file.
